Essos, in particular Slaver’s Bay, is inhabited by one-dimensional buffoons and pantomime villains who not only castrate boys, but then force them to kill puppies. Worse, there is (in my opinion anyway) an orientalist tinge to proceedings. In short, we care about Westeros more than Essos, and so long as Daenerys remains stuck in the latter, the plot is spinning its wheels. Essos, the neighbouring continent, is at this point merely serving as a holding pen for Daenerys’ dragons until they are of age to use in her intended conquest. The heart of the story centres on Westeros – whether it be the coming offensive from the Others, or the squabble over the Iron Throne.
So without further ado, my top five issues with A Song of Ice and Fire. One should always think critically, after all, even when dealing with quality material. Now it’s Martin’s turn – the idea being that I am taking an author I like, and playing a bit of devil’s advocate. Last month, I did a little thought experiment, where I nitpicked some of the elements of The Lord of the Rings – even Homer nods, as the saying goes.
These days, he is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, the series that birthed Game of Thrones.Īnd it is A Song of Ice and Fire that I focus on today. In particular, he is responsible for some truly gorgeous short stories, not to mention one of the greatest vampire novels of the twentieth century (Fevre Dream, which I still consider his best full-length book). I think he’s somewhat mistaken on occasions, but no-one can doubt that he has produced much excellent work over several decades.
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